Motherboard Guide

ASRock's First OC-Oriented Mainboard Z77 OC Formula Revealed

ASRock is releasing its first OC-oriented motherboard gear - the Z77 OC Formula that was first seen at Computex 2012. Exclusively designed by OC legacy performer, Nick Shih, it has a CEB format complete with three different useful kits which are ready for extreme overclocking.

Comprising five different enhanced solutions, the Formula Power Kit delivers efficient power supply over the board. Equipped with CHIL 8328 silicon, ASRock Digi Power features a digital PWM, providing CPU Vcore voltage more smoothly. Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM) gives larger die area with lower Rds(On), so the power supply for CPU Vcore is improved too. Compared to iron powder choke, the new Premium Alloy Choke (PAC) highlights a special alloy formula which is able to reduce up to 70% core loss. Multiple Filter Cap (MFC) includes a combination of highly conductive MLCC, DIP caps and POSCAP, helping the system filter noise from high-freq, mid-freq to low-freq, delivering enhanced and higher current to the CPU. A hefty 12 + 4 Power Phase Design features sturdy components and completely smooth power delivery as well.

Twin-Power Cooling combines active air cooling with water cooling which maximizes the system’s convection to expel hot air out. Built on an 8-layer-PCB design, ASRock Z77 OC Formula comes with 4 sets of 2OZ copper inner layers, delivering lower temperature and higher energy efficiency for overclocking. ASRock/GELID partnership provides an exclusive GELID GC-Extreme Thermal Compound as the free gift. ASRock/GELID applicator can even make the compound non-freezing even at low temperatures when doing LN2 extreme overclocking.

Extra overclocking goodies extend to the onboard connectors. Formula Connect Kit only adopts the carefully selected materials to facilitate overclocking. Featuring a solid square-pin design, ASRock Hi-Density Power Connector supplies current to the power more efficiently and achieves better electric conduction. Overall, it reduces 23% power loss and decreases connector temperature up to 22℃. CPU sockets and DRAM slots are mounted with 15μ Gold Finger. With the unprecedented 15μ gold-inside design, overclocking the CPU and memory is easier than ever.

Rapid OC button ensures serious OC enthusiasts to get the highest level of overclocking performance by manually raising and lowering the CPU ratio, BCLK frequency and CPU Vcore voltage. For those who constantly need to remove then insert cards back into the PCIe slots and fear of damaging them, PCIe ON/OFF is three switches to enable or disable the PCIe slots in a flick of your finger. V-Probe allows overclockers to easily and quickly get the accurate voltage readings via the multitester.